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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26029084">Sister, Sister</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/unitchiefprentiss/pseuds/unitchiefprentiss'>unitchiefprentiss</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>To Build a Home [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Criminal Minds (US TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 02:34:43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,196</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26029084</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/unitchiefprentiss/pseuds/unitchiefprentiss</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Though Keely and Hazel aren't close in age, that hasn't stopped them from being quite close, Keely always makes time for her littlest best friend. However, as Keely goes off to college and her responsibilities begin to pile up, she has less time to spare.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Andrew Mendoza/Emily Prentiss</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>To Build a Home [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1653055</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Sister, Sister</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This comes from a prompt I got on Twitter: Keely having a lot of work to do, which makes Hazel think Keely doesn't like her any more.</p>
<p>Thanks for supporting this little universe I've created, I love it here and I hope you all do too!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>October 2025</b>
</p>
<p>Ever since Hazel’s birth, she and Keely have been very close. Despite their age, Keely has always made time for her little sister. </p>
<p>The now 21 year old has been away at college for a few years, but comes home for holidays and breaks from school, and occasional long weekends. </p>
<p>It’s Keely’s fall break now, and she’s home for the week with her family before she heads back to campus for midterms. She’s got a lot on her plate this semester — she took a couple of extra classes because she’s planning to spend her spring semester abroad, and she would rather spend time enjoying the experience instead of studying. </p>
<p>However, because of this, the work is piling up fast. She’s got four midterms and three papers due, all in the week she gets back from break. So much for a break, she thinks to herself as she opens up her laptop and starts to type. She’s barely come out of her room in the few days she’s been home. </p>
<p>She hears a soft knock at the door, and she knows it’s Hazel. She feels terrible, she’s barely spent any time with the four year old. But she’s just got so much to do, she hasn’t really had much time to play. </p>
<p>Keely sighs and opens her door to find Hazel standing there. </p>
<p>“Can we play now?” Hazel asks hopefully. </p>
<p>Keely smiles softly. “I wish I could, buddy. But I have a lot of work to do. Maybe later.” </p>
<p>Hazel sighs. “You always say later.”</p>
<p>“I know. I’m sorry.” Keely says, closing the door before Hazel can argue with her further. She can be very stubborn, and she loves to argue. </p>
<p>Keely works on her paper for a little while, getting as much done as she possibly can. She works through dinner. Andrew brings her a plate of food and tells her not to work too hard. </p>
<p>The next day is much the same, but even Hazel seems to spend most of her day in her room, playing alone. Emily nor Andrew can get the little girl to open up about what’s wrong, and when she feels she’s being pushed too far, Hazel starts to act out. So, they drop it for the evening and allow Hazel to work it out on her own. </p>
<p>“She gets that from you,” Andrew says, not unkindly. </p>
<p>Emily sighs. “I know. I hate that. I thought we were doing a better job of making sure she doesn’t hide her feelings.” <br/>“You can try again later,” Andrew assures her. He knows how important it is to Emily that they make sure their children don’t bottle things up and shove them away. Emily knows that by her doing that, it only made things harder in the end and she never wants her girls to feel that way. </p>
<p>That night, at bedtime, Emily notices Hazel still looks a little upset. She had been pretty difficult this evening, she was much more defiant and whiny than usual. </p>
<p>“You’re thinking awfully loud.” Emily says, tucking Hazel snugly into bed and tapping the girl’s nose. It’s something she always says when Hazel is in deep thought. She furrows her brows just like Emily does. “Do you wanna talk about it?” </p>
<p>Hazel looks up at Emily. </p>
<p>“I don’t think Keely likes me anymore.” Hazel says sadly. </p>
<p>“What makes you think that?” Emily asks. </p>
<p>“She never wants to play with me anymore.” Hazel says.</p>
<p>“Oh honey, that doesn’t mean she doesn’t like you anymore. She loves you, she’s just busy.” Emily says, knowing Keely is under a lot of stress. </p>
<p>“But she is only here for a week!” Hazel says starting to cry now. Emily easily scoops Hazel up into her lap. </p>
<p>“I know, she’s just got a lot to do before she can go back to school.” Emily explains. </p>
<p>“I thought it was fall break.” Hazel replies, still crying softly. </p>
<p>“It is, but sometimes you still get homework on breaks when you’re in college.” Emily tells her. </p>
<p>Hazel makes a face. “Yuck. I don’t wanna go to college.” </p>
<p>Emily laughs. “That’s a conversation for much, much later.” She kisses Hazel’s forehead and wipes away the remainder of her tears with her thumb. “Do you feel a little better?” Emily asks. </p>
<p>Hazel nods. “I’m still sad.” </p>
<p>“I know, honey. It’s okay to be sad. I know you were really excited for Keely to come home.” Emily tells her. She puts Hazel back into her bed and tucks her in again, and holds up two books for Hazel to choose from. </p>
<p>“You can pick.” Hazel says dramatically. </p>
<p>Emily chuckles, picking one of the books and reading for a little while, until she’s sure Hazel is asleep. </p>
<p>She leaves Hazel’s room and heads to Keely’s. She knocks gently on the door and comes in when she hears Keely give the okay. </p>
<p>“Hey, just coming to check on you.” Emily says. </p>
<p>Keely sighs. “I shouldn’t have added all these extra credits.” </p>
<p>Emily sympathetically rubs Keely’s back. “Do you need help with anything?” </p>
<p>“Would you mind if I sent you this paper later?” Keely asks. Emily has proofread Keely’s assignments for years, ever since Emily had been on bed rest when she was pregnant with Hazel. </p>
<p>“Of course,” Emily says. “What do you have planned for tomorrow?” </p>
<p>Keely shrugs. “I don’t even know what to finish next.” </p>
<p>“Listen, I know you’re stressed, and you have a lot going on, but I think that while I’m proofreading your paper, you should take Hazel to lunch. Or just play with her here. She’s really upset.” Emily informs her. </p>
<p>“Oh, no. She is?” Keely asks. </p>
<p>“She thought you didn’t want to hang out with her anymore.” Emily says. </p>
<p>Keely sighs. “I’m sorry. I feel horrible.” </p>
<p>“No, I wasn’t trying to make you feel bad, sweetheart. I think you need a break, too. You’re gonna get burnt out. It’s your only break before the holidays, and we’re gonna miss you when you leave on Sunday.” Emily says.</p>
<p>“You’re right. I’ll do something really fun with Hazel tomorrow.” Keely promises. Emily kisses re top of Keely’s head. </p>
<p>“That’s my girl.” She says, smiling. “Send me that paper whenever, but don’t stay up too late.”</p>
<p>“I won’t. Thanks, Emily.” She says as Emily leaves the room. </p>
<p>The next day, Keely surprises Hazel by taking her to lunch, and then coming home and playing with her for a few hours, until Hazel knocks out on the couch as they watch a movie together. Keely dozes off, too, and Andrew manages to catch a photo of the two of them curled up on the couch together. </p>
<p>He finds Emily in their bedroom, finishing up with Keely’s paper. </p>
<p>He comes up behind her and leans down to rest his head on her shoulder. She smiles, and he shows her the picture on his phone. </p>
<p>“Oh, look at them.” Emily coos. “They’re so sweet.” </p>
<p>“I think today did them both a lot of good.” Andrew says. </p>
<p>The photo is printed and framed and given to both girls as part of their Christmas gifts that year, so that even when Keely is miles away, they’ll still have a piece of each other.</p>
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